{"id":692,"date":"2012-08-01T12:50:54","date_gmt":"2012-08-01T16:50:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/themooneylawfirm.wordpress.com\/?p=221"},"modified":"2012-08-01T12:50:54","modified_gmt":"2012-08-01T16:50:54","slug":"wholesalers-to-colombia-beware-your-business-could-be-part-of-an-international-money-laundering-scheme","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.customscourt.com\/es\/wholesalers-to-colombia-beware-your-business-could-be-part-of-an-international-money-laundering-scheme\/","title":{"rendered":"Wholesalers To Colombia Beware: Your Business Could Be Part Of An International Money-Laundering Scheme"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Black Market Peso Exchange (BMPE) <\/strong>is a long lived and widely used method for converting Colombian pesos into US dollars and vice versa.\u00a0 Boasting the ability to exchange money at a much lower rate, the BMPE evolved from the black market exchange that existed in Colombia for decades and was used by legitimate businessmen and drug dealers alike for the singular purpose of saving money.\u00a0 The BMPE is now one of the most sophisticated (and common) money laundering schemes employed by the cartels in the Colombian drug trade.\u00a0 Raymond Kelly, former Commissioner of the US Customs Service calls it the \u201cultimate nexus between crime and commerce, using global trade to mask global money laundering.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Here is a brief outline of how it works (though there are multiple variations of this basic model):<\/p>\n

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  1. Colombian traffickers or their US counterparts contact a ‘Black Market Peso Broker’ (money brokers who purchase US dollars that are derived from street drug sales) to negotiate an exchange rate.\u00a0 The rate is often approximately 40% less than the official rate.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

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    1. Once the rate is agreed upon, the drug dealers deliver the cash to the Broker\u2019s US office or some other agreed upon location for the exchange.\u00a0 At this point, all risk for movement of the money from the US to Colombia falls onto the Broker.\u00a0 Should anything go wrong, e.g. the money is seized, the drug dealers and traffickers look to the Broker for repayment.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

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      1. The Broker then processes the cash by employing runners to deposit the cash into US banks throughout the nation in increments of less than $10,000.00 to avoid the bank\u2019s reporting requirements under the US Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act, 31 U.S.C. \u00a75311-5355.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

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        1. Simultaneously, the Broker\u2019s Colombian office exchanges pesos (also at a lower rate than the official rate) with legitimate Colombian businesses who are looking for cheaper US dollars, which will enable them to do more business with legitimate US exporters.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

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          1. \u00a0Once the legitimate Colombian businesses give the Broker their pesos, the Broker then pays the business\u2019s debts in the US via wire transfer or direct deposit, allowing for the facilitation of legitimate international trade.\u00a0 The pesos in turn go back to the drug dealers and traffickers to spend in Colombia.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            Part of what makes this scheme so attractive to the drug cartels is that the transactions in step (5) above appear like ordinary international trade transactions so the authorities are far less likely to investigate them (if at all), even though the payments are made by unrelated third parties.\u00a0 As a result, many U.S. businesses (large and small)[1]<\/a> are completely unaware that they actually have a role in the illicit drug trade.<\/p>\n

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            Unfortunately, it seems very difficult for U.S. enforcement officials to sympathize with the businesses involved. In a classic case of the public and private sectors failing to understand each other, the United States cannot see how businesses could possibly participate in such a system un<\/em>wittingly.\u00a0 In many cases where this scheme is uncovered, entire U.S. bank accounts are seized and forfeited based on the assertion that the owners must have been aware that the money was dirty.\u00a0 In some cases money is seized before it is even proven to be of illicit origins!<\/p>\n

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            Here are two warning signs that your business may be inadvertently participating in this sophisticated money-laundering scheme:<\/p>\n